Video shows that Israeli was absolutely about to be lynched before he shot his gun at mob

Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, tweeted yesterday:

I condemn the reported killing of a #WestBank #Palestinian by an #Israeli settler. Those responsible must be investigated and prosecuted

— Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) May 18, 2017

He condemns the act before he calls for an investigation into what happened.

Luckily, we have video.

The crowd allows the cars to move slowly through – until the Israeli’s car enters the area (around 0:50.) . They surround him and he is forces to stop.

For about 20 terrifying seconds he is surrounded by screaming people kicking and hitting his car with sticks and stones.

Then, seemingly deliberately, an ambulance crosses over the median from the other side and blocks the Israeli car, leaving him a sitting duck. (His much smaller car would not easily be able to cross the concrete median himself, and of course there were more people there too.)

Desperate to get out of this situation, he moves his car forward through the crowd, hitting several, right up to the ambulance  but cannot get around the new roadblock. The ambulance driver, instead of letting him pass to give them room to deal with the injured, leaves the vehicle only a second after the Israeli car is right next to it. The Arabs, even angrier, surround his car again, hitting his windows with sticks and throwing stones, before he apparently shoots his weapon, causing them to disperse. (It is possible that he shot the gun from his initial position and IDF tear gas dispersed the crowd, I’m not sure of the timing, but clearly he was in a desperate, life threatening situation before he fired his weapon.)

There is no way that the Israeli could have acted any differently. (He says he shot into the air. Presumably he shot after opening his window a crack, leaving him with little angle to shoot directly in the air, and that is how the stone-thrower was killed.)

Instead of calling for an investigation first, Mladenov emphasizes that the person who was about to be lynched was a “settler,” implying that his life is worth less than anyone else’s, a curious position for a UN official.

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